


A Tale Of Two Sithies

by Lady_Felucia



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), kylux - Fandom
Genre: Bisexuality, Boys Kissing, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual kylux, F/M, Fantasy, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Funny, Gay, General Hux - Freeform, Kylo Ren - Freeform, Kylo Ren and General Hux - Freeform, Kylux - Freeform, Love, M/M, Romance, Romantic Fluff, Sexual exploration, Soft Kylux, Star Wars - Freeform, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015) - Freeform, The First Order
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-08
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-09-16 12:23:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,529
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9271250
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lady_Felucia/pseuds/Lady_Felucia
Summary: Armitage Hux and Kylo Ren do not get along, at all.They've been working side by side under Supreme Leader Snoke for over 5 years, yet they really don't know each other at all.General Hux is all about order, method and discipline. Lord Ren is all about doing whatever the f*ck he wants, and worrying about the consequences afterwards.Yet despite Hux burying himself in his work and Ren taking on a revolving carosal of casual lovers, both men are incredibly lonely, driven by the need for real love almost as much as the need for . . . a friend.





	1. Chapter 1

"You don't ever feel bad about what you're doing?"

Kylo Ren was sitting in General Hux's office for the second time that week, absently picking at the fringe of his cowl and not paying attention, as usual.

Hux had been having a difficult time in conducting meetings with his Lieutenants all that week. The normally focused group had been reduced to a bunch of gossiping teenagers, whispering and giggling about the latest batch of individuals that had been bragging around the Finalizer about their sexual exploits with Lord Ren.

Normally this would be something that he could just ignore; but when it affected his meetings and the focus of people he needed to be at 110% concentration for him at all times, it became necessary to intervene.

He was sitting here with him, now, trying to convince him to at least pick people to sleep with that wouldn't run out and tell everyone within a 10 mile radius what they had done, but to no avail.

Kylo didn't seem to find it particularly important whether or not his actions impeded the morale or the focus of Hux's underlings. He actually seemed to take pride in it, in how many people he could say he had "conquered" in a given week.

Hux had thought that if he couldn't appeal to his logical sense, maybe he could appeal to his sense of modesty, or morality.

Not that he seemed to have those senses.

"Bad?", he asked now, brows knitting together in confusion. "Why would I feel /bad/? They get their relief and I get a temporary distraction from my mind. It works out."

"Besides", he continued, the corners of his mouth turning up in a smirk, "I've never heard anyone complain."

"When would they even have /time/ to complain? You kick them out as soon as you've 'finished' with them."

"Not /right/ away. I give them time to gather their clothes, at least."

"Again, not entirely true. What about that one girl? The kitchen girl from a couple of weeks ago? I heard she stumbled out of your room topless and practically fall-down drunk."

"Well /I/ am not the one who got her intoxicated; she showed up that way. What was I supposed to do, exactly; just turn her away?"

"If you were a decent person, then yes, you would have."

"Haven't we already established that I'm not a 'decent person', or has there been some meeting regarding a change in that situation that I'm unaware of?"

"You don't think that's wrong, even a little bit? Taking advantage of someone who's intoxicated like that?"

"It's not 'taking advantage' when she comes to you, when she makes all the moves and is in control the majority of the --encounter."

"And besides," he said, pressing his fingers into his closed eyes and sighing, "Why do you even /care/, anyway? Nothing that I'm doing is affecting you, is it?"

"Fraternizing with members of my staff and my personal does indeed affect me, Lord Ren. I strive for order on my ship; order and discipline. Shamelessly fucking every random life form that comes your way opens up the channels of gossip, and distracts from overall morale. I wouldn't have a problem with it if you at least attempted some small form of discretion, but no. As it is any single person on board this ship could give me a detailed list of all your conquests. It's--most disorderly."

Lord Ren stared at him, narrowing his eyes. Did he really believe all that he was saying? Or was it something else?

Reaching out, he probed his mind, looking for the cause behind his words. When he saw it, he gasped a little, taken aback.

Hux--was jealous.

The thought was murky but the feeling stood out, boldly, just the same.

Jealous.

But of WHAT?

Hux was General of the First Order; he had nearly as much power and influence as Ren did. Surely he could arrange "company" for himself, if he so desired.

So what was--

Oh.

/Oh/.

Wait.

Something else flashed up, something that was so well hidden that it was possible Hux wasn't even aware of it himself; but there, nonetheless.

Hux wasn't jealous of Ren, not exactly.

Nor was he jealous of his conquests.

He was jealous because. . . he wanted to BE one of those people, one of those anonymous men and women who came to his chambers late at night and crawled out again a short time later, disheveled and mildly disgusted, but satisfied.

So /that's/ why he's been getting on my case so much about the others, he thought to himself. He just wants to be one of them? Odd.

He shook his head in disgust, letting out an exasperated sigh. For a man so intelligent in everything else, he really was a /fool/.

He used his gift to freeze Hux into place, smirking at the look of shock and frustration that slid over his face when he did so.

"I'll tell you something, General," he said, voice dropping into a low growl as he walked up to the frozen man, using his strong arms to lift him up and slam him, hard, into the wall, "If you and I were to 'engage' in such pursuits, it would be the worst decision you ever made in your life. You wouldn't know how to handle the rest of your life, going forward, and you'd quickly see that there is no turning back. You wouldn't just want me, you would /crave/ me. /ALL/ of me, not just the body that had become your temporary paradise."

Here he stopped, smiling, bringing his face closer to the General's. "You would want it /all/", he repeated. He inclined his head as if to kiss him, then stopped, so that their lips were inches from each other's. Smiling, he whispered, "And that's something I just can't give you."

He released his mental hold on him and stepped back, silently, eyes locked on his face.

There was a beat of silence, and another, extending on and on into a limitless quiet that seemed to penetrate the very air around them.

And then the General brushed off his uniform, slowly, and moved to pick up his hat from the desk. 

He adjusted it firmly on his head as he paced to the door. He hesitated, his hand on the knob, before turning around and saying to the still-watching darkly clad knight; 

"You observe so many things, Kylo. Your eyes take in so much but I don't think you understand even half of what you see."

"You've known me for almost 6 years, haven't you? But you don't know me at all. Because if you did you would know, KNOW, that I wouldn't even entertain the idea of fucking a disgusting creature like you. Ever. To connect any part of my mind or body to you. And anyone who sleeps with you is a shallow fool, an idiot who is only seeing you for your looks and your body, but not the most important part of you, the most important detail:

"You're a monster. You have more blood on your hands than any single person in The First Order; more than me, maybe even more than Snoke himself. I don't think the Maker himself could wash it all away."

"That's the only reason you're able to do what you're doing, Kylo. You have no feelings, you have no conscious. I highly doubt you have a soul; or if you do, it's likely even darker than those robes you wear. All you know how to do is take, take without regret, take without giving back. And that's gotten you far with the likes of Snoke, I'm sure. But as a person? As an actual human being? You may as well be dead."

With that he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Lord Ren staring thoughtfully at the closed door behind him.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Kylo hit the black punching bag, harder, then harder still, putting more of his weight into it as he alternated between punches and a series of swift, low kicks directed towards the bags middle. Normally he had a partner or two to spar with but tonight he felt like being alone, preferring the solid splat of the bag to the grunts of actual humans.

He often found that working out, training provided him with a great deal of comfort when he couldn't sleep; like tonight.

Panting slightly, he moved away from the bag and laid down on the weight-lifting bench. Grabbing the cold silver handle, he pumped the heavy iron slowly, up and down, keeping his muscles relaxed and controlling his breathing.

For a long time the only sounds in the room were the repetitive click of the weights clinking together, and his own heartbeat flooding in a slow rhythmic melody in his ears.

Which is why he didn't hear the light footfalls coming towards him, or the voice calling his name until someone was standing right over him, looking down at his face.

Hux.

Scowling , he lifted the barbell back on to its rest, sitting up and grabbing the towel laying near him to wipe his sweaty face.

"What do you want?"

"I just came to see who was in here so late. I could hear all the noise. My office is two doors away, you know."

"Sorry if I'm bothering you, General", he said in a sarcastic voice, standing and going to his gym bag laying on the floor. "Anyways I'm almost done; then you can go back to your paperwork or whatever the kriff it is you do in there."

"You should really work on your listening, Ren," he said, sitting at the edge of the now empty weight bench. "I didn't SAY you were 'bothering' me; I said I was /curious/ about who was in here."

"Same thing", said Kylo, taking a long swig from his water bottle.

Hux sat silently for a moment, before saying,

"You know if you're going to be lifting weights, you really ought to have a spotter. It's dangerous, not to. What if your arms suddenly gave out? You'd be crushed to death."

"You needn't concern yourself with that, Hux. My arms never give out. And even if they did, I'd just use the Force to lift the weights off. Problem solved."

"Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I really don't think that 'the Force' can solve every single problem like that."

"Ok fine, then I'd just let the weights crush me to death. Isn't that what you said, General? That I might as well be dead, anyway? So, once again, problem solved."

Hux was silent again, looking down at his hands before speaking in a low, awkward voice.

"Look--Ren. It was very out of line for me to say those things. What you do with your own time is your own business. And clearly, I have no right to judge your life; mine hasn't been any better. /I/ haven't been any better."

Ren was silent as Hux went on, his face suddenly turning up into a grin, as he continued:

"Generals of The First Order do not issue apologies, because admitting wrong doing of any kind is a severe weakness of character. However, if they /did/ apologize, this would be one."

Ren's face broke out into a grin of his own, as he replied, 

"A Leader of the Knights of Ren does not accept apologies from subordinates, because to do so would imply unwarranted forgiveness. However, if he /did/, I would be accepting yours. Grudgingly."

"The same way the General would grudgingly accept being called a lowly subordinate?", Hux asked with a smirk.

"Exactly", returned Ren.

"The knight would also," Kylo continued, cheeks turning a slight pink, "apologize for, um, insinuating that the General would want, um, 'illicit relations' with the Knight, and see that said insinuation could be construed as 'offensive '; or a form  
of 'harassment. And he would REALLY apologize for that. If, you know, he apologized at all. Which he clearly doesn't."

"Seriously," says Hux, chuckling to himself, "for two people doing so much 'not apologizing', we're really a couple of sorry assholes, aren't we?"

"So it would seem", said Ren, laughing as well.

As he turned to go, Hux called out to him, stopping him.

"Wait a sec; how about you spar with me for a little while? I used to be pretty decent in mixed martial arts."

Ren turned back around and eyed him, unable to keep the skepticism from washing over his face. He was taller than Hux by at least 3 inches, and outweighed him by probably 40 pounds or so, mostly in muscle.

As if reading his mind, Hux said, taking off his greatcoat and shoes and laying them neatly on the weight bench,

"Cmon Ren. I might surprise you."

Shrugging, Ren came over to him and stretched, subtly flexing his biceps. "Whatever you want, General."

He began to move around him, knees bent, arms held out in a defensive posture, looking for a quick way to take him down.

Hux lowered his own arm for a split second, and Ren jumped on the opportunity, throwing a heavy punch solidly at his face.

Hux saw it coming and ducked his head to the left, having surprisingly quick reflexes. He ducked again as Ren threw another punch, this time aimed at his forehead, trying his best to keep from laughing out loud at the look of frustration already coming over his face.

Moving like lightning, he used his hand to grab Ren's elbow, thrusting himself underneath his arm and shooting out his foot, effectively sweeping Ren's ankles out from under him and knocking him onto his back. 

Ren immediately got his leg up and connected it to Hux's ear, delivering a series of hard, firm  
kicks that temporarily stunned the General.

He shot out his hand and grabbed Ren's foot, rolling upright and twisting it at an angle behind Ren's body, using the leverage to remain upright of him.

Suddenly, his grip on Ren loosened and he doubled over, gasping in pain, clutching his side.

"Hux? What's wrong?!" Ren was asking him in a panicky voice, before everything went black.

The next thing he saw was white. A sharply lit room, illuminated with white walls and white beds. He was on his back, staring up at the ceiling, squinting at the sudden brightness. 

He tried to sit up and found that he couldn't, trapped by a thick cover of some kind, and by his own body, which felt heavier than usual, solid, weighted.

A slight noise caught his attention.  
Turning his head to the left, he could make out a large black-robed figure sprawled out in a tiny gray chair, eyes closed and lightly snoring.

"Ren?"

Ren stirred at once, shifting out of his sleep and coming to stand over Hux's bed.

"Well, looks who's finally back from vacation!", he said in a teasing voice.

"What in the world /happened/? Where the kriff AM I?", he asked.

He tried to sit up straight but was stopped by a sharp pain in his side. He grimaced, lightly touching himself as he looked to Kylo for answers.

"Yeah, I would try and avoid moving around so much if I were you.", said Kylo in a quiet voice. "You've got something like 22 stitches. You're in med bay right now."

"Med bay? Stitches? What happened?", he demanded again, groaning softly. "The last thing I remember is kicking your ass in the gym, and suddenly I'm in med bay!"

"You weren't 'kicking my ass'", said Kylo, pouting slightly. "I was about to make my move and totally destroy you--but then your appendix made a move first. It exploded; or ruptured, or whatever word it was they used. Anyway you passed out. I brought you here."

"How long have I been asleep?"

Glancing at the clock, Ren replied "Oh, about 6 hours. Maybe closer to 7, I don't really know. Took a nap and kinda lost track of time."

"Have you--have you been here this whole time?"

"Yes," he replied, somewhat defensively. "So what?"

"So--nothing. I mean, thanks. That's nice of you."

Ren shrugged his shoulders, face turning slightly red but saying nothing.

"So, has Snoke been--informed?", Hux asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, yeah," Ren said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I made contact with him maybe 2 hours ago, told him all that happened and what the Doctor said."

"And what did the Doctor say?"

"He says you should rest and stay off your feet for at least a week. They want to keep you in here for a couple more days to make sure there's no danger of infection or anything like that; then you can go back to your own quarters and rest there."

"A WEEK?!", he exclaimed. "A bloody week? That's ridiculous! I should be fine the day after tomorrow. And I should be able to go back to my quarters now," he said attempting once more to sit up despite the pain it caused him.

Ren pushed his shoulder, gently but firmly, forcing him to lay back down. "I don't think so, Hux. You start moving around too soon and you're just gonna tear something else, and you'll end up being out even longer."

"Besides," he continued, "I've already informed Snoke of the diagnosis and he agrees with the Dr. He's putting Captain Phasma in charge of all your bridge duties until you come back."

Sighing, Hux adjusted his head a little more comfortable on his pillow. "Well that's one consolation; Phasma's no idiot, and she could probably do my job just as well as, if not better than, me."

Ren nodded, looking down at him. The look in his eyes was unfamiliar, or at least it was on his face. He seemed--concerned. Almost--worried. 

Hux was again struck by how odd it was that he had stayed here with him this entire time, and found himself not knowing what to say for a few minutes.

When he could speak again, he looked at Ren and said, with a sly smile, 

"This is all /your/ fault, you know."

"What?!", Ren asked, startled.

"You knew damn well I was about to win our little match in the gym; so you used the Force to make this happen so that you wouldn't have to admit defeat."

"Okay, two things about that, Hux. One: that's not how the Force works, and Two: I already told you, I wasn't losing! I was about to make my move when you decided to fake appendicitis to get out of that inevitable loss."

"Well I do a pretty damn good job at faking, don't I?", he asked, gingerly patting his side.

"You really do. Quite impressive, actually."

Ren stood up and yawned, stretching towards the ceiling. 

"Listen, so long as I know you're going to live, I'm going back to my quarters. It's almost 5 am. Get some shut eye before Snoke sends me on one of his bloody little 'missions' later."

He grabbed his mask off the bedside table and put it on, before turning and saying in his distorted voice "Ill be back to check up on you later, General."

Hux nodded at Ren, saying in a quiet voice "All right, goodnight Ren. Thanks for -- just, thanks."

Ren nodded and left the room, leaving Hux to try and ignore the dull pain in his side long enough to get some sleep himself.


	2. Chapter 2

Hux felt odd, with Captain Phasma seeing him like this.

He was in the sitting area of his quarters, perched on the arm of his chair, leaning forward. Instead of his usual uniform he was dressed 'casually', in dark slacks and a plain black collared shirt. 

He felt vulnerable, somehow, without his full-dress General's outfit, in particular his greatcoat. The length and the weight of his coat made him feel comforted, feel solid. 

Without it he felt slightly naked, like his body was too frail, his shoulders too bony. He did work out at least twice a week, striving to stay in shape through rigorous cardio-based workouts. 

None of his routines were really geared toward gaining or maintaining any sort of muscle-mass; although sometimes he felt that they really should be.

He had two more days to go in his doctor-imposed prison sentence, and to Hux, those days could not pass quickly enough.

He was the sort of person who felt horribly uneasy if he was not kept busy at all times. 

His feverish work ethic had been one of the biggest factors in his rising through the ranks and becoming General of the First Order.

He had spent a great deal of time cleaning and rearranging his quarters during his convalescence, and reading; still the days were far too long to keep him entertained due to the absence of work.

And he didn't even have Ren to harass; he had been sent on a raid and wouldn't be back until tomorrow night.

. . . not that Hux cared either way, of course.

He focused his attention now on the lady in the room.

Phasma was sitting across from him, on the couch, in full uniform, sitting up straight and exuding an air of complete professionalism.

She removed her helmet, and he was once again amazed at how stunningly beautiful she was. 

She had exceptionally fair skin, with a faint sprinkle of freckles across the bridge of her nose. High, sculpted cheekbones, delicate eyebrows and small, pleasantly curved lips. Her hair was nearly as pale as her skin, an illuminating white-blonde that fell to just above her shoulders.

She sat across from him now giving him her daily briefing. He had been right in his original assessment that she was performing his duties just as well as, and perhaps even more competently than, himself.

A man of his rank did not have "friends"; however, there were several people with whom he was more friendly than the average person on base. Phasma was one of those people, for him.

Aside from her impressive tactical prowess and leadership abilities, she was probably the smartest person he had ever met. 

She was one of those individuals who, when not engaged in a professional capacity,always did more listening than speaking. She had a keen talent for observing everything around her, and being able to use what she had gleaned later to her advantage.

She was slow to anger, more apt to think and use common sense and logic in order to solve any and all problems that might come her way.

"Very good, Captain Phasma," he said once she had finished her report. "You're to be commended on how well you've taken control in my absence."

"Thank you, General," she replied, a small smile forming on her lips. "However, if I can speak frankly, sir; I'll be most grateful when you can resume command. You have so many responsibilities on this ship; I'm at a loss how you're able to balance everything so well. So . . . effortlessly."

He chuckled to himself before answering, "I wouldn't say it's effortless at all. But it's flattering that you think so."

She laughed a little, before standing, helmet in hand. "Well, Sir, if there's nothing else; I'll be taking my leave, now."

Before he could reply, his door slid open, and Lord Ren strode into the room, glancing around himself and stopping short upon sighting Captain Phasma.

"Lord Ren," she said, nodding briefly at him before pulling her helmet over her head. "Good evening, General."

Ren nodded silently at her, while Hux bid her a good evening and watched her walk out the door.

As soon as the door slid closed behind her, Hux turned towards Ren, arms folded across his chest.

"Have you never heard of knocking, Ren?", he asked irritably.

"I have, but I've found knocking takes too much time; and I'm a busy man." He pulled off his helmet and set it on an end table by the door, combing his fingers through his messy hair.

"Busy, indeed. Aren't you supposed to be on a raid somewhere?"

"I was," Ren said, moving to sit in Phasma's spot on the couch, "But we got back early. Ended up killing everyone. Fun times."

"Seriously, Ren; what if you had come in and I had been naked or something?"

Ren shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "Nothing that I haven't seen before."

"That's not the point. The point is that a man should be free to do whatever he wants in his own quarters, including roam around naked, without the inconvenience of being interrupted by his rude non-knocking coworkers."

"Honestly, right now you sound a bit disappointed that I /didn't/ catch you like that. If you want I can try and arrange a time to come back when you're a little more 'natural'. I'd have to charge you a fee, though; I don't usually make house calls."

Hux frowned, then rolled his eyes. "Sounds like a blast, really. So what do you want?"

"What makes you think I /want/ something?", he asked, leaning back and kicking his boots up on Hux's coffee table.

"Well you did just burst in here, unannounced, uninvited, for no conceivable reason. You're interrupting my 'rest', you know."

Ren grinned, leaning forward and putting his hands on his knees. "Looks like I interrupted a little more than 'rest', General."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning--what was Captain Phasma doing here with you all alone, huh?"

"Giving me the daily report on my troops," Hux replied, raising an eyebrow. "What ELSE would she be doing here?"

"Well if I had her in MY quarters I wouldn't just have her 'giving me a report'. Unless of course it was an oral one", he said, laughing childishly at his crude joke.

Hux rolled his eyes, unable to keep himself from chuckling.

"Good God, man; is that honestly all you think about?"

"Not ALL; I also think quite a bit about food. Don't change the subject though, Hux. You can't tell me you haven't noticed how pretty she is when she's not wearing that awful helmet."

Before he could stop himself, the words flew out of his mouth: "I could very well say the same thing about /you/, Lord Ren."

His face reddened at his unexpected disclosure, and a beat of silence protruded in the room until Ren said, awkwardly,

"You think I'm--pretty?"

Again, before he could think about what he was saying, Hux blurted out,

"Handsome, not pretty."

Dear Kriff, what is /wrong/ with you?! Hux thought angrily to himself. What in the hells are you thinking?!

If Ren was in some way uncomfortable, he hid it well. He just cleared his throat and said "Thank you." in a semi-awkward tone.

A beat of silence passed between them, and with it, something else. Some intangible feeling that permeated the air, making it feel as though everything were charged with a kind of electricity. Ren had the distinct impression that if he were to reach out and touch Hux right now, he would receive one hell of a shock.

It made Ren feel uncomfortable, and very uneasy; as if he had just been caught off-guard or something. Trying to throw up a distraction to the previous few odd moments, Ren said, in a loud voice, "I'm hungry. I'm gonna go down to mess-hall and scare those incompetent cooks into making me something decent. You want to come?"

Hux hesitated for a moment, still feeling that strange vibe in the air. Finally he shrugged his shoulders and said "Sure, why not?"

He slipped into his greatcoat and pulled on his boots, as Ren clicked his helmet back into place.

As Hux heard the familiar whoosh of air sliding into place within the helmets mechanisms, he couldn't help thinking again of Phasma.

Why is it that the two people on this ship who don't /need/ to hide their faces, are the ones that do, he thought.

Probably the same reason you wear this ridiculous coat, he answered, smiling ruefully to himself as he followed Ren out the door.


	3. Chapter 3

"Requisition Form 1-7A694, Left-side console panel for Computer 97-2N, Prisoner Control Room. Requisition Form 1-7A698, metal sheath, wall outside Prisoner Control room. Requisition Form . . ."

"Stop, stop, stop," said Hux, glaring at his assistant. "Before you go any further, tell me; are ALL of the requisition forms for the prisoner control room?"

His assistant, an older, somewhat timid man, shuffled through the stack of papers in his hand.

"Oh, no, Sir; only the first 20 or so. There's also some here for the mess hall, the training center, the storm trooper quarters, the holding cells, the . . ."

Hux closed his eyes briefly, sighing to himself as his assistant continued on in a monotonous drone.

He had been back at work for less than a week, now, and it seemed like every day since then he was being brought a ridiculous amount of requisition forms and repair bills for damaged items around the ship.

And he knew exactly who to blame for that, too.

Apparently, within the last week Ren had interrogated a prisoner who had angered him beyond what was normal for him; if you could call his sort of anger 'normal', that is. At any rate the prisoner control room bore the marks of his outburst in glaring red-slashed insignia.

At that moment who should enter his office but the source of his headaches; striding into the room with boots clomping and cloak swirling, and going to sit in the unoccupied chair next to Hux's assistant.

The older man looked at him sideways, warily. 

Hux didn't have the Force but he didn't need it to know that the man was absolutely terrified of Ren; although he tried his best not to show it.

Ren's unpredictability and unstable nature was as much a topic of conversation for the ship as were his sexual exploits, although far less amusing to speak about. He was apt to get angry over the slightest of things, and in his anger he often took to destroying things with that damn lightsaber of his.

Hux sighed to himself again and said, to his assistant, "Thank you. I'll look the rest of these over myself. You can leave them on my desk. And now, Dismissed."

The man stood up and bowed his head to the General, then turned and did the same to Lord Ren, keeping a safe distance away from his as he hurried out the door.

"What was /his/ problem?", asked Ren in his mechanical mask-distorted voice.

"I could ask you the same question, Lord Ren. Any particular reason why you've felt it necessary to destroy so much of my ship lately; or are you just trying to give me a proper 'Welcome Back To Work' party?"

"Oh, come now, General ," Ren said. "I really doubt that you can blame everything wrong with this base on me! It's old! Things fall apart and break all the time!"

"Ok, is it a coincidence that 90% of the things that are 'old' and 'falling apart ' have huge lightsaber slashes through them?"

"I'm not sure that I'm the only one on this ship that carries a lightsaber, you know. Have you asked around your troops to see if anyone has a saber in their possession? Maybe you should be looking for /them/."

"I would, Lord Ren, but unfortunately I don't have the time right now. I have quite a stack of paperwork to get through, here. You know, because of the lightsaber-swinging 'storm troopers'."

"Honestly, I don't understand why you don't have someone do that /for/ you, Hux. Seems like a poor use of resources."

"It wouldn't matter, anyway", said Hux, rubbing his temples with his index finger. "All these forms require MY signature of them, and MY final approval."

"Heavy is the head that bears the crown, huh?"

"Quite heavy."

"You know," said Ren, as he finally lifted the helmet off and set it at the opposite edge of Hux's desk, "You don't look so good. Very stressed out. Pale. You should try to not worry so much, let go. You'd be a lot happier."

"Well maybe I wouldn't BE stressed out if a certain idiot would stop smashing my Kriffing base, and everything else, to pieces!"

"Or MAYBE", Ren said with a grin, "You'd feel better if you destroyed something yourself."

"Ren, seriously, I don't have time for this right now. Unless you have something really important to tell me, I'd appreciate it if you --"

Hux was cut short by Ren, who held up one hand to keep him from talking as the other unclipped his lightsaber from his belt. "Here," he said, holding it out to him.

"Here, what?", asked Hux, eyeing him suspiciously.

"Here! Take this!", said Ren impatiently, still holding the saber out. "Take this and destroy something. I promise you'll feel 100% better." 

Hux stood for a moment, contemplating his offer, and slowly grasped the saber in his hand.

"How do you--"

"There's a small button on the bottom left side. Hold it a little bit away from your body and brace your arm; it'll get a little heavier once it's on."

Hux did as Ren instructed, took a deep breath and pressed the switch. Glowing, growling red light shot out immediately, painting the walls of his little office with a humming ruby tone.

He experimentally moved his arm this way and that, enjoying the sound the blade made as it cut through the air, of the pleasant vibrating sensation tingling up and down his arm.

He turned his attention towards the brown leather armchair sitting in the corner of the room, the one he had never liked. Putting both hands on the hilt and lifting it above his head, he brought the saber down in a straight line on the chair. He was shocked at how little resistance he encountered; it was as easy as slicing a hot knife through butter. 

He looked at the remains of his chair, split down the middle in two almost even pieces, and smiled to himself. That HAD felt good. Better than he imagined. 

Turning around, seemingly unable to stop himself, he turned his attention towards the two black folding chairs that were sitting in front of his desk, and he sliced through those as well. First one, then the other, the metal bits falling to the floor with a satisfying clinking sound. 

The same fate met the little plant on his desk, the one that refused to grow no matter how hard he tried to make it. And the painting on the wall. And the (thankfully empty) water cooler in the other corner.

And then he forced himself to stop, shoulders heaving slightly and adrenaline coursing his body, as he switched the saber off.

Ren had stood quietly and watched him, arms crossed and leaning against the door, a small smile on his face.

Hux turned to face him, feeling his cheeks reddening with embarrassment at his little display. He held the saber out to him, saying a quiet "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Ren replied, clipping it back into his belt. "Do you feel better now?"

"I do."

And he did. Even the thought of the new paperwork he had just created for himself wasn't enough to dampen Hux's sudden jubilant mood. He felt--cleaned out. Reenergized.

"Good. I'm glad."

He looked at Ren, who was watchimg him with that smug smile on his face. With the surge of energy still going through his body, there was one more thing Hux wanted to do, before it was too late.

Walking up to Ren, he reached up and snagged his hands in his luscious hair, yanking him down into an awkward, hard kiss. 

Ren froze at first, unable to believe what was happening. Then he smirked wickedly as he returned the kiss with his own intensity, gripping the General's face and eagerly exploring his mouth with his tongue. The General's lips were thin, but soft. This close, he noticed for the first time how good he smelled. When Hux let out a small moan, Ren grinned, digging his own hands into the other man's feathery ginger locks. Then he bit down on Hux's lower lip, hard enough to draw blood, earning a surprised little gasp.

As if coming to his senses, Hux blinked and forceably pulled himself away from Ren, taking his hands from his hair and putting space between them. He lightly touched his finger to his lips, wiping off the tiny bit of blood that had pooled there from Ren's bite.

Hux looked confused. Confused, incredulous, a little scared---and happy.

They stood staring at each other for a few moments, that staticky feeling stronger than ever. Ren's lips were quivering, and he wanted nothing more than to kiss Hux again. He was about to lean in and do so, when Hux stopped him, holding out his hands and backing away.

"No, no. I'm sorry. I--shouldn't have done that. It was wrong. Um. It was a one time thing that I wanted to do, and now I've done it, and it's over. That's it. Over."

Ren was still staring at him, his whole body starting to shake with the desire to kiss Hux again. Controlling it as best he could, he watched as Hux walked back to his desk and sat down, calmly picking up where he had left off in his paperwork.

"You're right, no words. One-time thing. Gotcha.", he said as he pulled his helmet back over his head. "I'll see you tomorrow, General."

"Good evening, Lord Ren," he said as Ren walked out and closed the door softly behind him.


	4. Chapter 4

"So . . . are we ever going to talk about . . . /it/?"

"Nothing to talk about, Ren. I told you, it was a one time thing."

There was a pause, and then Ren was saying in a tone Hux had never heard him use before,

"I don't want it to be a one time thing."

They were sitting in Hux's office after a meeting with Snoke, discussing strategy on an upcoming raid that Snoke was sending a unit of StormTroopers on. 

Ren had been fidgeting around worse than usual, and Hux had demanded to know what was wrong. That was when Ren decided to start talking, timidly, about the situation that had occurred between them last week.

Personally, Hux had been trying his hardest not to even think about it. He had told himself that it was just a one time event, a regrettable impulsive urge that had overtaken him that he did not intend to repeat. 

Ren, apparently, did not feel the same way.

Hux looked at him now, his tall self sitting with his shoulders hunched and his face pouting, and felt a twinge of anger.

"What in the hells are you talking about, Ren?! For Maker's sake, aren't you used to this kind of thing? Isn't this what you DO? The love 'em and leave 'em mentality?"

"I didn't actually 'love' you; I just kissed you. Or I should say, YOU kissed ME. That's not the point, though. I just--"

"You just want to add me to your list, right? That's what's bothering you here, isn't it? That you can't add me to that exhaustive list of people you've had in your bed. Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you, Ren, but I'm not trying to be next."

Ren was silent for a while, looking at his boots. When he did speak, it was so quiet it was almost like he was whispering. Hux had to lean forward a little, straining slightly to hear.

"I know that, Hux. And I know what you think of me, and you're probably right to be suspicious. But that's not what I want from you. I don't -- I have no idea what I actually want from you. But it's not /that/. I just--I don't want it to be the last time, or the /only/ time, we--kiss."

"Why?!" Hux demanded angrily, eyes blazing at him. "Why does this matter so much to you? Why do /I/ matter to you, at all?"

"You, uh . . . my heart pounded really hard. When you touched me."

Mine, too, Hux thought, although he didn't want to say this to Ren.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

Ren looked up at him, a small smile on his face. 

"I don't KNOW. Haven't you ever just had a strong feeling about something without really knowing the why?"

"And besides," he continued, a tiny splash of red creeping into his pale cheeks, "I haven't been able to get you out of my head for days. Or your lips, which are REALLY soft, by the way."

Hux blushed despite his efforts not to, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Force, Ren," he said in a soft voice, "Why do you have to SAY things like that? I'm not--I'm not used to anyone thinking of me, this way. And I don't think I'm ready for it."

"Look", he continued, rising from his seat and going to lean against the wall, "Can't you just, I don't know, walk out of here? Walk out the door and come back in, and start over again; pretend this conversation never happened, pretend our kiss never happened, and just go back to quietly hating each other? Please?"

Shaking his head, Ren stood up and crossed the room over to Hux, until he was directly in his personal space. Hux looked up at his face, nervously.

"I never 'hated' you, General. I don't think I even ever really disliked you. I mean yeah you're a pain in the ass sometimes and you're WAY too uptight about too many things; but still. You're not a bad person."

"I'll tell you what," Ren went on, dark eyes piercing into Hux's green ones, "Let me kiss you one more time. Just once. If you still feel nothing, if you don't like it, I'll back off. I'll do like you said: I'll walk out the door and back in again and we'll start over, and forget everything that happened. Agreed?"

Hux sighed to himself. Part of him wanted to take out his blaster and shoot Ren in the kneecaps for being so damn annoying, so aggressive. 

But the other part of him was confused, and--curious. Desire was rising up in him, greedy, hungry, despite his logical side's best efforts to hold it back, to deny it.

He /wanted/ Ren to kiss him. Had wanted it since they broke apart after that first kiss last week.

Clearing his throat, he asked in a shaky voice, "Do you--promise not to bite me, again? My lip is still kind of sore from, you know, last time."

"I promise", Ren said, a wide, eager smile spreading over his face.

"Very well then, go ahead, Ren: kiss me."

Slowly, unsteadily, Ren inclined his neck down towards Hux, his lips quivering slightly. He lightly pressed their lips together, softly, gently, his hand coming up to caress the side of Hux's face.

He gently pushed his tongue into Hux's mouth and deepened the kiss, still being careful to be soft with him.

After a few moments of this he pulled away, taking his hand from Hux's face and looking at him nervously.

When Hux stared at him without saying anything, he hunched his shoulders slightly and started to turn away, looking hurt.

"Okay. I'm sorry; I'll just g--"

Before he could finish, Hux was reaching up with both hands to cradle Ren's face, pulling it towards him and sinking them into a warm, firm kiss.

He yelped a little, in surprise, as Hux bit down on HIS lip before pulling away and smirking.

"I thought you said--"

"I said I didn't want my own lip bitten; I said nothing about yours. Besides, I owed you that. Payback."

"So . . . are you, er, are we, uh . . ."

"I don't know," said Hux, sitting back down at his desk and putting his head in his hands. "I honestly have no idea what I'm doing right now. The only thing I DO know is that-- I do. Like kissing you, that is."

"Me too.", said Ren, smiling at him, an almost-shy expression on his face.

"I've, uh, never quite had experience with something like this before. I mean sex, yes, but not the, um, what do you call this part? The romantic crap?", Ren continued timidly.

"Is that really what you want to call it?", asked Hux, raising an eyebrow. "Because that sounds very convoluted to me."

"Well, no, it's not. I'd actually, um, don't laugh but--would you be my, uh, boyfriend?", Ren asked, blushing, looking at his hands folded in his lap.

"Boyfriend?", Hux repeated the word, amused. "After two kisses? That's a bit fast, isn't it? And besides, I haven't held that title since my Academy days."

Brushing hair out of his face, Hux continued:

"Also, 'boyfriend' implies a far greater level of commitment than I think you're ready to accept responsibility for, Ren. If, hypothetically, we were going to DO anything, why not call it dating? Why do you want to jump right to a title like that?"

Because . . . because that's not enough, Hux. Dating would mean we could still see other people. I don't . . . I don't WANT to see anyone else."

Hux shook his head, feeling slightly scared.

"I honestly never thought I would be having this conversation with you, Ren. Ever. And I'm not sure what's scaring me worse; here: how kriffing intense youre coming across right now, or . . . how, against ALL of my better judgement, I want this, too."

"But, Ren, there are problems with this, you know. First, I highly doubt that "boyfriend" is something Snoke would approve of. And second, Ren, not to be weird here, or crude, but I know you have quite an--appetite. When it comes to -- certain things. And I don't know if this is obvious or what, but I've never navigated that 'territory' with anything other than a female. I don't--know when, or if, I'd be /ready/ for that.

Ren sighed, fiddling with his robes. 

"Let me worry about Snoke, okay? What he doesn't know won't kill him. And about the other thing--I can understand how--overwhelming, the thought of something new like that can be. But you know, we can take our time with that. Maybe get there naturally, maybe not."

"Give me, I dunno--a year. A year to see if I can be a good partner to you, make you happy, all that stuff. If after a year you find that you still don't want to go to the next level with me, we can break it off. No harm done."

"You can go without sex, for possibly an entire year? Seriously?", Hux asked bluntly, trying to gage Ren's level of commitment.

"Seriously."

"But . . . WHY? I'm sorry I just don't see how this would be enjoyable for you in any way."

"Again, General, I don't /know/ why. And I actually have more self control than you think; previous track record and destroyed ship equipment notwithstanding. And all I'm asking for is a shot. Just a chance. I mean, what have you got to lose?"

Hux closed his eyes and pressed his fingers into his closed lids, massaging them. What /did/ he have to lose?

He opened his eyes and saw Ren still looking at him anxiously, a hopeful express on his face. 

"Absolutely nothing.", he finally answered him, rising once more from his seat and going to Ren. "Maker, I feel like we just made a business transaction, or something." 

"We did, kind of. Shake on it, 'partner'?", he asked, playfully holding out his hand.

Hux looked down at Ren's outstretched hand, grabbed it and pulled him into a hug. Hugging was something that he had done in his life even fewer times than kissing. It always felt odd, and impersonal to him. But standing here holding Ren was different, somehow. He liked how easily his arms went around him. How warm he felt. How he could rest his head on his shoulder. He sighed, and gave Ren a small kiss on the cheek, before letting him go.

Ren smiled as Hux released him. "See, now, that alone is worth giving up a year of the other stuff for."

"I'm glad you think so. And hey, who knows, it might not be a year.", he said with a wink, making his way back towards his desk.

"But for now you'll have to excuse me, Lord Ren. I have some paperwork to try and get through before evening drill. Seems as though /somebody/ broke an entire navigational computer two days ago. And three combat droids."

"See this is where you'll get the benefits of having a boyfriend. I won't rest until I've hunted the perpetrators down and brought them before you for justice."

Hux burst out laughing, in spite of himself. "Seems to me I've already punished at least /one/ of them, with a bite."

"Well, no offense, but a bite hardly seems like 'punishment'. In fact, I'd go so far as to say the perpetrator actually /liked/ it. That he was really turned on by it. Like, /really/ turned on."

"Perpetrator, or pervert?"

"Is there a difference?"

Now both men burst out laughing, the sound like music in the little office.

"Ok, ok, I'm going," says Ren, standing and retrieving his helmet from by the door. "Is it too soon to say "love you", yet?"

"Definitely too soon," said Hux, looking up from his papers. But we should have /something/ to say. How about--um--"

"How about "like you"? Sounds kind of like 'love you' but without the weirdness behind it."

"Good. Thats perfect, Ren. Okay, Like you." 

"Like you too", said Ren with a chuckle, snapping his helmet into place before leaving Hux's office.


	5. Chapter 5

"C'mon Hux, you can finish this later, can't you? We can go back to my quarters, watch a holofilm. It'll be fun."

"You always say that but then it just ends up with you sticking your tongue down my throat."

"Well, it sounds disgusting when you put it /that/ way."

Hux rolled his eyes, giving an exasperated sigh.

Ren and Hux had been seeing each other for a few weeks, now. They still had yet to move past the hugging and kissing stage; but Ren was being very patient, and seemed more than content with the situation.

Hux had mixed feelings about their relationship.

On one hand, he felt extremely awkward.

As patient as Ren was with him, as encouraging as he was, Hux could never completely put out of his mind the knowledge that Ren was the more experienced lover. Not that they had actually made love yet; but it was evident all the same. It was there in every kiss, every touch, every look that Ren gave to him.

And that bothered him, a bit. He wasn't used to being the inexperienced one in any situation.

But if Ren minded, he never let on, and for this Hux was grateful.

That was the one way he felt regarding the two of them.

The other way he felt was: happy.

Pure happiness that seemed to rise up from his middle and choke him, putting a squeeze on his heart whenever he so much as spoke Ren's name.

He couldn't recall a time in his life when he had actually, truly cared for someone. When he found joy in something as trivial as sharing a cup of coffee, or recounting the tedious details of his day.

And his feelings for Ren were growing stronger each day, much stronger than he had anticipated. It wasn't just the romantic aspect that he enjoyed; it was the friendship one as well.

The more they talked, the more they found that they had in common. It was nice, and it made Hux feel good, to have someone he could confide in about his worries, his fears, his hobbies and interests.

He found that he now couldn't wait until when he was off duty at the end of the day, so that he could spend time with Ren. Watching holofilms, eating, talking, even reading quietly together in the same room; these mundane activities took on a breath of fresh air in Ren's presence.

By unspoken common consent, they kept their relationship a secret to everyone outside of the two of them. 

Ren would have had no problem bragging to he world that he was with Hux, but Hux did not want that for several reasons. The most important being that such a revelation might diminish his troops respect for him, to know that he was currently involved with the man who used to send hapless men and women stumbling shamelessly out of his quarters by the dozen in any given week.

This being the case, in public, in view of other people, they were nothing but professional with each other, always keeping a respectful distance from one another and speaking only of work-related matters.

Ren had an easier time than him, in this regard; his mask always covered his face, hiding his emotions from others.

Hux was an expert at hiding his emotions, as well; but there were times when that carefully crafted facade slipped, if only a tiny bit. Like when he smiled a little too long at Ren, a little too softly. Or stared after his retreating figure with a little more interest, or attention, than was normal.

He felt that their act was a good one; but still, there was one person he suspected that saw the truth behind the facade: Phasma. 

She was an exceptionally perceptive woman, very observant, and he had a gut feeling that she could sense the chemistry between Ren and himself, the slightly charged energy that flowed between them.

But he felt that, if anyone had to know, or even suspect, he was glad it was Phasma. She was both respectful and discreet, and he didn't feel there was any harm in her knowing the truth.

Yet despite how much he loved spending time with Ren, oftentimes he found that they had very little time with one another. Snoke sent Ren on missions almost constantly, or had him training. And it seemed as if Hux's paperwork and bridge duties increased each week.

Hux had always put his work first in his life, and sometimes found it hard to ease off and let go, in order to engage in a personal life.

This was the case now, as Ren stood in his office trying to convince Hux to stop working and spend time with him.

"Look," he said, pushing Hux's papers out of the way and sitting down on his lap, "All I want is a little time with you. Just a little. Is that so much to ask?"

"A little time? We see each other all day long, Kylo! I see you during morning drill, I see you in the mess hall, I see you at the meetings, I see you at evening drill. I think I spend 95% of any given day looking at your face. Or rather, your helmet. But still."

"And by the way," he continued, grimacing, "I'm not trying to a jerk here but you are /really/ heavy; would you mind getting off my lap?"

Ren sat still, making no move to get up. He put his arms around Hux's shoulders and began peppering his forehead and cheeks with a barrage of tiny kisses.

"Seriously, Kylo!", Hux snapped at him, bucking his hips sharply in an effort to throw him off. "I don't have time for your nonsense right now!"

Ren slowly took his arms from around Hux's shoulders. He sighed and said, sadly,

"I feel like I'm always bothering you, Hux. I don't know; maybe I was wrong to think that this would work. Maybe--we should just call this whole thing off."

Before Hux could say anything, Ren was getting off his lap and walking towards the door. He hesitated for a moment before turning around and saying softly "I'm sorry that I kept you from your work. I'll see you at morning drill, huh?" 

And with that he turned and strode out the door, leaving a very loud silence in his wake.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Hux stared down at his paperwork, at his desk, seeing it but not really seeing it. He felt bad.

He hadn't meant to hurt Ren's feelings, or push him away. 

And that last thing he said, about how maybe their relationship wasn't meant to work, or something like that. 

He didn't agree with that, at all.

He needed to go and apologize, but wasn't sure how.

He put away his paperwork and stood, preparing to leave, when a soft knock came on his door.

"Come in," he called.

Phasma entered, helmet tucked under her arm and a stack of papers in her hand.

"General; I'm sorry I'm so late with this report; I had a few extra drills to run with my squadron today and couldn't get around to finishing it until late."

"Thank you, Captain Phasma," he said, taking the report and placing it in a folder in his desk. "I appreciate your getting this to me."

"Of course, General," she said. Rather than turning and leaving, she turned and walked to the window, looking out. 

"I see that new base store is still open," she said, her back to Hux. "Have you been in there yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"They sell all kinds of things in there. The storm troopers love it, so I'm told. They have decent food rations, coffee, training fatigues, even . . . flowers. Why, I'm not sure. I guess they figure everyone could use a bright touch in their lives once in a while."

She turned back around and faced him, giving him a small smile. 

"I'll see you at drill tomorrow, General. Good evening."

"Good evening, Captain," he said, watching her leave.

He smiled at the closed door, shaking his head. 

He took out a pen and paper, scribbling a note for his assistant, who always arrived at his office in the morning at least an hour before he did.

// Go to new base store immediately when open. Order a dozen mixed flowers, have delivered to Captain Phasma's quarters. Put on card "To a bright touch of Color in a dull world".

-General A. Hux //

-:-:-:-:-:-

He knocked on Ren's door, feeling nervous but determined to go on with this.

After a moment the door slid open, revealing Ren in black sweats and a dark blue muscle shirt, looking somewhat sullen.

Hux looked at him silently for a moment. Each time be looked at him, it was like seeing him for the first time. Force, he was gorgeous. And he wasn't even truly aware of it.

"Can I come in?"

Ren nodded and moved aside to let Hux in.

He walked slowly into the living room, and turned around to face him.

"These are for you," he said, handing him a bouquet of white roses. "And so is this," he said, leaning up to give him a warm kiss on the lips, wrapping his arms around his waist.

"Look, I'm sorry that I can be an insensitive douche. It's not that I dont like spending time with you, and it's not that I don't want you around. And bullshit, by the way, for saying that this thing isn't meant to work. Because it is."

"But you've got to remember, Kylo, that /this/, this whole being with someone thing, is all relatively new to me. I'm not used to trying to make time for anyone other than myself, or doing anything other than working. I know that's not a good excuse, but it's the truth."

"I know," Ren sighed, sitting down on his couch and pulling Hux down with him. "I forget that; you have a lot of responsibilities and priorities and I should be more mindful of that."

"No, Kylo, stop that. You always get to apologize for being a dick; now it's MY turn."

"What are you talking about? I hardly ever apologize for anything."

"Well, no, but you ARE always the one doing something wrong", Hux said, chuckling a little. "Again, it's my turn."

"Ok, fair enough," said Ren, laughing as well. "These are really nice, by the way," he said, inhaling the flowers. "Thank you."

Hux smiled. He twisted so that he was sitting on top of Ren, facing him. He twined his arms around his shoulders and began kissing along his jaw and neck. Ren shivered beneath him, sitting perfectly still and letting Hux claim him with his lips. "You silly, sweet, overly-sensitive man," he murmured into Ren's ear. "The next time you want to say it's not working between us, I'm tying you down to my desk and holding you hostage until you change your mind."

"Is that a promise?"

"It is. It definitely is.

Abruptly Hux broke away and climbed off of Ren's lap, sitting next to him and leaning into his side.

"So--you still want to watch a holofilm?"

"We could -- or we could just skip straight to the tongue part. You know, whatever works."

Hux grinned and leaned up, kissing along Ren's face before replying, with a happy sigh,

"Works for me."


	6. Chapter 6

Hux woke up to the distinctive sound of a laser slashing through metal, and sighed wearily to himself.

He noticed that this time, however, there seemed to be a lot more sounds of destruction than was normal, and much more screaming.

He hurriedly dressed himself, cursing that he had to go and stop one of Ren's fits so soon in the morning. It was too early for this.

Then again it was /always/ too early for this.

He opened his door on a scene of utter chaos.

The walls up and down the hallway bore deep, smoking slashes from ceiling to floor. Several computers were smashed to bits, metal and glass littering the tile floors. 

At the far end of the hall were at least 6 stormtroopers laying on the floor, moaning quietly, holding bleeding arms from which the uniform had been sliced clean through.

Sighing through his nose, Hux took action.

He had the injured men brought to med bay by the remaining troopers who were untouched. He paged his assistant and told him to come and evaluate the damage, and what had to be repaired/replaced, and to start preparing the proper forms.

Everything else taken care of, he went to find Ren.

He spotted him further down the corridor, towards the mess hall, holding his ignited saber in his hand and looking like he was preparing to start carving into the double doors.

"Lord Ren!", he yelled loudly, halting him mid-swing. He stood there staring at him from his mask, not saying anything.

"Lord Ren, I wish to see you in my office. Now."

He turned on his heel and stalked off towards his office, hoping that Ren would actually listen and follow him.

After a few minutes, Ren did, walking in quietly behind Hux and shutting the door behind himself.

Hux leaned against his desk, arms folded, waiting.

Ren said nothing, just continued to silently stare at him. And he had yet to take off that damn helmet.

Hux sighed and walked up to him, reaching up and undoing the locks in Rens helmet himself, pulling it off and dropping it into the chair by the door.

He looked at Ren's face and took a step back, shocked.

Ren's eyes were dark, darker than normal, and fiercely glowing. His normally pale face was a deep red, and sweat stood along the edge of his hairline.

Hux sat down on the edge of his desk and looked at him, not really knowing what to say, before Ren blurted out, in a strained voice,

"My MOTHER and FATHER are coming. Here. In two days."

Hux sat quietly and looked at him, confused.

"And you--don't want them to?"

Ren glared at him, and Hux could almost swear he saw his fingers twitch towards his light saber. He flinched back into the desk a little, startled.

He could tell that Ren was working towards one hell of a(nother) tantrum. His shoulders were heaving, his face was contorted into a deep sneer, and his heavy irratic breathing was shaken his chest in violent spasms.

Hux actually felt a little scared, seeing him like this. He didn't think that Ren would ever actually hurt him, at least not intentionally; but still. When he was angry like this he often lost complete control of himself, and only realized what he had done afterwards.

It was probably ill-advised to physically approach him when he was like this, but Hux did so anyway. 

He slowly walked over to him and put his arms around him, tightly. The heaving didn't stop and Ren's body went rigid, fists clenched; but Hux did not let go. He laid his head against Ren's chest and waited.

Little by little, bit by bit, Ren got himself under control. The painful jerking of his body slowed, then calmed itself into nothing. His breathing eased. 

Eventually he relaxed and put his arms back around Hux, burying his face in his red hair.

Hux waited a few minute before asking, timidly, "Why are your parents coming here, anyway? And why wasn't I informed of this from Snoke?"

Ren sighed, answering Hux but refusing to let go of him. 

"Diplomatic mission. Negotiating for a new trade route along the Ilenium system. Or something like that. I honestly stopped listening after the first few minutes. Anyway Snoke invited my mother here, with her advisory council. And my father, for whatever reason, is coming along with her."

"And Snoke is going to tell you this; he'll tell you at the next meeting. He's calling a special one with you and your lieutenants to discuss the situation and proper diplomatic procedures. He just told me first because they're my parents, and he knew I'd want to know."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes?"

"Can you please let go of me? You're, um, crushing my ribs."

"Oh, sorry," Ren said somewhat sheepishly as he released Hux. He went to sit on Hux's desk and after a minute Hux followed him, sitting beside him.

"When's the last time you saw your parents?"

Ren ran his hand along the side of his jaw. "Maybe 10 years, maybe a little more. Somewhere in that area. I guess you can say 'a while'."

"It's not like I haven't kept in contact, though. Or at least I have with my mother. I send her holos every week."

"But you--don't get along with them?"

"No, not really. When I told them ten years ago I was going to train with/work for Snoke, they were--disappointed, to say the least. It bothers them that Snoke taught me to embrace the Dark side of the Force; they've always been staunchly against that, considering the way it manipulated my grandfather."

"Your grandfather was Darth Vader, right?"

"Yes,", he replied, smiling to himself. "I'm sure you've heard about him, and his reign during the Galactic Empire. But my family always felt it was his turning to the Dark side of the Force that ruined our entire family."

"But", he continued, looking at Hux, "I've had some time to think about it, and I think that his fall wasn't exactly turning to the dark, but not embracing some kind of balance, between dark and light. He would have been happier, more in control of himself, if he had tried to balance out light side and dark side proclivities. Not just choosing one over the other."

"My mother had me training in the light side with my Uncle Luke since I was a boy. But I could never fully get behind his teachings. Always talking about suppress your emotions, be calm, etc. That all sounds very well and good but sometimes you also need to embrace your anger, your hate. Balance."

"Not that I'm doing so well with the whole concept, actually. But I do try. Snoke offered to teach me the Dark side as well as the Light, and I accepted. My parents and my Uncle were really against that, but, well, it wasn't their decision to make. It's mine."

Hux was quiet for a while, thinking. Finally he said "Are you . . . scared, about seeing them now?"

Ren shrugged, looking down at his boots. "I guess you could say that. I mean, I want them to see how well I'm doing; but honestly sometimes it seems that no matter what I do, it's not good enough for them."

"Do you feel like what you've done, what you've accomplished or achieved, is good enough for YOU?"

Ren shrugged his shoulders again, sighing. He reached out and grabbed Hux's hand, lacing their fingers together. "I'm proud of ONE thing I've achieved, anyway."

Hux smiled and kissed their joined hands.

"So--I finally get to meet the parents. That's pretty exciting, actually; I don't think I've ever been serious enough with someone to warrant meeting their parents," he said teasingly.

Ren smiled, before saying in a soft voice "I think my mother will love you. You're the kind of person she's always hoped I'd meet; smart, loyal, disciplined, attractive, powerful, sexy as all hell--"

Hux blushed, using their hands to lightly smack Ren's shoulder. "I really doubt your mom said all /that/, Ren."

"Okay, maybe not that last part. That's more or less an unexpected bonus."

Hux grinned as he leaned over into Ren's face. "You forgot "horrible kisser", he whispered as he captured Ren's lips in a deep, lingering kiss.

"SO horrible," Ren mumbled, as he sank into Hux's embrace, their lips dancing with each other in the quiet room.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Ren stood in the ship hangar, a small contingent of stormtroopers standing in two small lines behind him, awaiting his parents' arrival. 

After much debate he had decided to leave his mask behind, knowing that if they saw him wearing it right away they would start making negative comparisons between him and his grandfather. 

He felt odd, standing out here in full view of the troopers, in the sunlight, with his face exposed. He tried his best to ignore his discomfort, though, and focus on more pressing issues.

Finally the ship approached, making its landing slowly in the ramp.

Force, he thought to himself, they still had that old thing.

The Millennium Falcon was beyond old, and always in some stage of maintenance or repair. He knew they had more than enough money to buy a new one, and in fact his mother's personal ship was a much newer, sleeker model than this bucket of bolts; but for whatever reason they refused to junk the Falcon.

His father had once jokingly told him that he shouldn't knock the ship, because he had been conceived on board. 

At least, Ren really HOPED it was a joke. 

The doors opened and his mothers advisors stepped out first, looking warily around at the guard placed around the hangar. 

Finally his parents emerged, his father looking just as wary as the advisers but his mother eagerly searching the crowd, eyes going wide when her eyes finally landed on her son's face.

She walked ahead of her husband and slowly approached Ren with a timid smile on her face.

"Ben. It's been . . . a long time, hasn't it?"

"Yes it has, mom," he replied, a small smile on his own face. He hesitated for a moment, then bent over and hugged the diminutive woman to him warmly, softly kissing her cheek. She clung to him for a long time, not wanting to let go.

"You look beautiful, mother."

"Well of course I do. It's the Skywalker genes; we're all really pretty. Where do you think you get YOUR handsome face from?", she joked, teaching up to stroke his face with her fingertips. "It certainly isn't from /this/ guy", she said, playfully jerking a thumb back at her husband.

Ren straightened up and looked at the man in question. Tall, gray-haired, and wearing the same leather jacket he had been wearing when Ren left over 10 years ago. 

Ren rolled his eyes at that; his father always was stubborn about changing his habits, sticking with something lost past it's usefulness in an effort to avoid change. Hideously old, worn-out jacket and ancient ship cases-in-point.

Ren extended his hand towards his father, who looked at it and said, with a grin,

"A handshake for your old man? C'mon, kid," as he stepped forward and folded him into a tight bear-hug. Ren sighed and rolled his eyes before managing to get his hand free and pat his father lightly on the back.

"Okay, Han, okay; let go."

His father gave him a smacking kiss on the cheek before releasing him, causing Ren's face to brighten into an apple-red.

He ordered his stormtrooper guard to escort his mother's advisory council to the sitting chambers of Supreme Leader Snoke; he would take his parents himself. 

He turned and gestured for them to follow, walking back towards the large building.

"I'm starving!" said his father, patting his belly. "When's dinner around here?"

"Han!", said his mother sharply. "We're here to talk, not eat."

"I thought it was customary for people to feed important guests. Especially foreign diplomats."

"I'M the foreign diplomat here, you half-wit. And I'm not hungry. YOU just came along for the ride."

"I came along to protect you, dearest."

Ren turned and looked at him, eyes narrowing slightly. "And why would she need protection?"

His father looked back at him, a frown on his face. "Well she starters, Ben, she's here to meet a man who has iron fisted control over half the systems in this galaxy. I'm not politically minded at all but I'm pretty sure you don't get control like that from being nice and amiable with others."

"Second, Ben, we haven't seen you in over a decade. I know you've embraced this whole balance between light and dark crap, but I haven't. The dark side hurt your mother once, you know; I'm not going to let it happen again."

"You're more of a fool than I would have thought," Ren snarled through his gritted teeth, "If you actually believe that I'd hurt mother."

The scowl on Ren's face deepened as Han continued, "Also, I have no way of knowing that Snoke won't just attempt to kidnap my wife--the same way he did my son."

Ren slowly stepped into his father's space, so that they were facing each other. He was taller than his father and more solidly built, but Han did not back down, or draw away, from his son's obvious anger.

"Kidnapped? That's a funny way of looking at it," he said, pointing a finger into his chest. "He didn't kidnap me, I chose to come here, Han. He offered me power, and stability. He honed my powers into unprecedented levels, something that charlatan Luke wasn't able to do. I mean, if that's 'kidnapping', I should thank him for it; it's the best possible thing that could have happened to me."

"Ben! Han!", said his mother, putting herself in between them and placing a hand on each ones chest. "For Maker's sake, it's been TEN YEARS since we've even been on the same planet as each other! I'd have hoped you two would learn to get along, by now."

Ren took a deep breath, calming himself. 

"You're right, mother. I'm sorry. Apologies, Han," he said, nodding at his father.

His father nodded back quietly, and they continued along in silence before his father spoke again, saying somewhat gruffly, 

"You look--really good, son. Really fit. They must be feeding you well here."

/If only they would feed US really well/, he continued under his breath.

Ren couldn't help but smile to himself. Force, some things just never change.

"Actually Han, I'm fairly certain that Snoke was arranging a little dinner for you and mother and your people, for after your negotiations. So don't worry."

"Excellent!" said his father, smiling widely. "Hurry up and get this talking nonsense over with, Leia, so we can get to the import stuff!"

Ren and his mother looked at each other, and started laughing at the same time.

"Is he always like this?"

"Only on the weekdays," quipped his mother, smiling up at her son. "Weekends are much worse."

Then all three of them were laughing as they proceeded up the steps and into the building.

-:-:-:-:-:-

Negotiations went well. Snoke was cordial and respectful to his visiting diplomats, in particular to Ren's mother, who always exuded such a confident, compelling aura wherever she went. 

They met with Snoke and his advisory council, as well as several members of his army; among them General Hux. Ren stood silently by as they were introduced, contemplating in his head whether or not to tell his parents later that he was actually dating this man.

His parents had known about his leaning towards both women and men since before he had left home, and neither had had a problem with it. The only thing they wanted was for their son to meet a person who could balance him out, a bit, something that they weren't sure would ever happen.

After negotiations, Ren pulled some members of his staff aside and told them to prepare two separate dining halls; one for his mother's advisers, and one for himself, General Hux, and his parents.

As preparations were made, he found himself unusually nervous. He didn't truly know how they would react to hearing that he and Hux were together, or how skeptical they'd be if the situation.

Finally the time came. His mother and father were escorted into the dining hall where Ren and Hux were already seated waiting.

As his mother entered, Ren and Hux both stood, and Hux went to pull out his mother's chair for her. She smiled and thanked him as Han took his seat beside her, taking off his jacket and hanging it over the back of his chair.

Ren and Hux took the two seats opposite them, Ren nervously debating how to break the news to his parents.

A server came in and poured wine for everyone, and his father immediately dove in, marveling at how good it was, how sweet.

Before Ren could say anything, her mother was setting down her wine glass and looking at him expectantly.

"Well?", she said, still looking.

"Well--what?"

"Oh for Makers sake, Ben! Are you going to introduce us to your boyfriend or what? Or I should say, re-introduce but with a more interesting title than "General."

Ren choked on his wine a little, sputtering out "How--how in the world did you KNOW that?"

"You seem to forget, my love, that I have the Force, too. Or a little bit, anyway. Enough to sense things. And you both are giving off some pretty intense vibes towards one another."

Hux said beside him, also red-faced, "Ren didn't mention that you were, um, Force-sensitive."

His father was looking around at the three of them, bewildered.

"Boyfriend? Seriously? Leia were you going to tell me about this?"

"I was, my dearest, but I thought it might be better to let them say something first. Or, well, you know what I mean."

"How long have you two been--together?", Han asked, taking another swig of his wine.

"A little under 6 months, I think," said Ren nervously, fidgeting in his chair.

"Oh, Ben; I can't tell you how relieved I am that you finally found someone. I was worried you were going to be "Solo" forever."

Ren rolled his eyes at this old joke, although he couldn't help feeling relieved at his mother's positive reaction. His father, in the other hand --

"Can you repair a ship?", his father asked, addressing himself to Hux.

"Most things, yes."

"Can you fight?"

"I've been trained in swordplay, hand to hand combat, and mixed martial arts, so yes."

"Can you cook?"

"Not very well, but yes, somewhat."

"You have a steady job here, as General?"

"I certainly hope so."

"Do you--love my son?"

"I do.", said Hux, glancing at Ren. "I really do. I'd do anything for him."

"Then--that's all I need to know.", said Han, settling back in his chair. "Well except for maybe one other thing; where's the damn food already? I'm starving!"

Hux laughed as, at that moment, servers brought in multiple dishes and platters and placed them around the table.

Han didn't have much else to say after the food came, contenting himself with busily stuffing his face.

Leia was a little more delicate in her eating, and infinitely better-mannered, taking the time between bites to both ask questions and tell amusing anecdotes to Hux about her son, much to the latter's chagrin.

"There was that time he snuck into our room when we were asleep and cut off a good chunk of his father's hair. He tried to glue it to his arms and say that he was like his Uncle Chewie!", she said, laughing.

"Mom!", he exclaimed, blushing. "You didn't have to tell him that!"

"Oh come on, dear, it was so cute!"

"Uncle Chewie?", Hux asked, raising an eyebrow.

"He's my best friend," put in his father, sipping his wine. "He'd been around Ben since he was a baby. He's a Wookiee."

"A . . . Wookiee? That's--interesting. Re-er, Ben, never told me that", he said, smirking over at his red-faced boyfriend.

"I bet he never told you that he speaks near-perfect Shyriiwook, either," said Han with a wicked grin.

"Han! Seriously?"

"Oh come on Ben, I haven't been able to tease you in a decade. Lighten up a little."

"Go on, Ben, say something for him in Shyriiwook!", exclaimed his mother.

Ren blushed, then sighed. Subtly reaching out with the Force to be sure that no one was outside the door, he took a deep breath and began to voice the still-remembered Wookiee noises, keeping it as short as possible.

When he was done, all three of them, his mother, father and boyfriend, burst into loud, rolling laughter. 

He scowled and clenched his fists under the table. He still didn't like being laughed at, or made to feel like a child.

He felt his anger rising up and tried desperately to control it.

In the midst of all this, he suddenly felt a squeezing pressure on his hand. He looked down and saw Hux's fingers on top of his, holding tightly.

He smiled, and was able to start laughing himself, feeling his chest relax.

"What did you just say?" Hux asked him.

"Honestly, I'm not sure. I think it was "Nice weather we're having, isn't it?"

"Actually," interjected his mother, "You said "The sun is rupturing my nose hairs", but, you know, close enough, son."

And then every one burst into laughter again, and this time it was a little easier.

-:-:-:-:-:-

A while later Kylo and Hux stood in the hangar, waiting to see his parents safely off.

"Ben, I want you to keep sending me holos," his mother was saying, clinging to his neck. "And try to get a little more sun, you're way too pale. And I know you and your dad both hate vegetables but you've got to try and get some more into your diet. And stop slouching! You're so tall, you keep slouching like that you're going to end up with back problems! And--"

"Alright mom, alright!", he laughed, releasing her. "And I wasn't 'slouching'; you're so short I practically have to touch my toes in order to hug you."

"No talking back to your mother, son," said his father, as he put his arms around him and gave him a hard hug. Kissing his cheek, he whispered "I love you, Ben. I -- miss you. If you have the time, when you send your mom holos, I'd really like one from you, too."

Ren smiled as he hugged his father back fiercely. "Love you too, Han. And I'll try. No promises, but I'll try."

His mother turned to Hux, hesitated, and hugged him as well, smiling at the surprised look on his face. 

"It was nice to meet you, General Hux. Please thank Leader Snoke for us, again, for being so hospitable and so open to hearing us out."

"Hux. Just Hux. And I will," he said as she let him go. And it was really nice to meet you both, as well. I hope you can visit again in the future; perhaps next time, under less formal circumstances."

"Here's to hoping," said Han, as he stepped forward to shake Hux's hand. "Good luck with my son; that boy can be a hell of a handful."

Ren and Hux watched as they boarded their ship and lifted away, leaving a still silence in its wake.

Ren looked down and sighed, noticing for the first time that Hux was holding his hand. 

"Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?"

"You told my parents that you love me."

" . . . that's not a question."

"Hux."

"Kylo", he said, looking at him, "You get on my nerves more than I would have ever thought possible. There are days when I just hear the sound of your voice and I wish I had the Force so I could choke you. You're too tall, you always smell good, you have the face of a God and the body to match; you're arrogant, infuriating, sweet, gentle, and vicious. I think about you all the kriffing time. And I do mean ALL. THE. TIME. I can't stand you, but would die for you. You irritate me to no end and I don't think I've ever felt happier in my entire life, you ass."

Kylo fought back tears as he squeezed Hux's hand, replying simply "I love you, too."

"You'd better."

"Holding hands in public?", Ren asked as he looked at their still-joined hands, raising an eyebrow. "I'm pretty sure some stormtroopers are still in the area; what if they see? Imagine all the things they'd be saying."

"I don't care.", Hux replied, looking up at him.

"Me either.", Ren smiled. "I imagine you have to go back to your office now, write up the details-report of the negotiations?"

"And I imagine you have to come with me, sit and talk to me while I write up said report?"

"You imagine correctly," said Ren with a chuckle, as they walked, still hand in hand, back to Hux's office.


	7. Chapter 7

"Ok. Ren. You can see what I'm saying, though, can't you?"

"Yes," he chuckled. "I can see. Can YOU see that you have nothing to worry about, though? Seriously?"

"Of course," Hux said, turning towards the window. 

"Do you--you trust me, don't you, Hux?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Hux repeated in a strained voice. "Yes, I trust you. I do not, however, trust that woman."

About a month ago, The First Order had received a batch of new recruits and officers from a neighboring system that had merged with their Order.

Among them was a woman, a Captain Andwa Letha. She had taken an instant liking to Ren, always positioning herself in the best possible areas to see him as he passed in the hallways, managing to procure the chair next to his at meetings, etc.

After awhile her seemingly sweet friendly banter with Ren became out-and-out flirting, taking on an increasingly aggressive tone as the things she said became bolder, filled with more innuendos and a clear desire to bed the man.

Ren was receptive to her innocent friendliness at first, but once it became clear what she actually wanted he kept his distance from her and studiously ignored her overt attempts at seducing him.

Her desire to have him was fueled as much by his looks as it was by the scandalous gossip she had received from some of the other Officers concerning Ren's prior exploits before he took up with Hux.

Since the day his parents had visited, Ren and Hux made less of an effort to hide their relationship with one another. They still weren't terribly affectionate with each other in public; however, they had been observed more than once holding hands, and in rare circumstances, kissing.

The majority of the people on base who figured out or witnessed their union didn't think very much about the situation. They thought it odd that these two vastly different creatures should pair up; however, they seemed to be contented in one another's company, and so that was that.

There were others, however, that were openly and vocally ((behind closed doors, anyway)) critical of the partnership. In particular those who had been debauched and then casually discarded by Ren were highly skeptical, eagerly awaiting the day when Ren would pull the rug out from under the General the same way he did them.

When they didn't happen, skepticism was overtaken by mild jealousy, and some active attempts to tempt Ren back into his former lifestyle of easy, expendable trysts.

Which was likely why Captain Letha felt it appropriate to be so bold concerning the dark Knight; having been told by her new peers that the man was not only an excellent lay, but was also easily susceptible to seduction.

Ren had intuited all of this; even going so far as to gently but firmly tell Letha that she was wasting her time because he was taken.

His words slowed her down, temporarily, but did not fully deter her from trying; after all, she liked a challenge.

Hux had noticed this, of course. He noticed but was unsure of how to handle the situation.

As a Captain, she ranked in tactical ability and intelligence second only to Captain Phasma. She was an excellent leader; articulate and well-spoken, physically strong and detail-oriented. She was, in short, an excellent addition to the First Order.

He couldn't very well fire her, or have her transferred, without first explaining himself to Snoke, who would wonder why a woman with her impressive qualifications was being sent away for no obvious reason.

Hux doubted that Snoke wanted to hear "Because she keeps hitting on my boyfriend and it's getting on my nerves" as an answer.

So he chose, more or less, to ignore the whole thing; keeping his attention focused on important matters and trusting in Ren to remain loyal.

Ren was lauding his case concerning that loyalty, now, in Hux's office.

"I'm sorry, Hux. I know that this is my fault, kind of. She's new and I'm sure she's been talking to some of the Captains I used to, uh, have 'relations' with."

When Hux remained silent, Ren continued on, with a pleading expression on his face,

"I promise I've done nothing to encourage her behavior, if that's what you're wondering. In fact I think I've been as cold to her as possible; hopefully she'll take the hint and back off soon."

"Oh, come on; oh course she's not going to back off, Ren," said Hux, somewhat sadly, "LOOK at you!" You're the definition of tall, dark and mysterious. I guess--I can't really blame her, for trying."

"Do you--want me to kill her?"

Hux looked up at him to see if he was joking or not. He wasn't.

"I can make it look like an accident", Ren was saying, not meeting his eyes. "I won't even have to physically touch her; it'll look like she just choked, or something. Easy."

"Ren--no. You don't have to murder someone just because I'm jealous of them."

"Jealous?"

"Annoyed. I meant to say, annoyed with them."

"But you didn't /say/ annoyed; you said jealous. Are you being serious right now?"

Hux didn't answer, instead turning back around and gazing out his window.

Ren came up behind him and put his arms around his waist, resting his chin on Hux's shoulder.

"You have no reason to be jealous, my love," he whispered into Hux's ear. "This silly fool of a woman doesn't even begin to compare to you."

As he bent to kiss his cheek, Hux unexpectedly flinched away, removing Rens arms from his waist and going to sit at his desk.

"Ren--I have some forms here that I need to look over before drill tonight. I just--we can talk about this later, okay?"

"Okay," said Ren quietly, feeling unpleasantly cold after Hux moved away. "Um, Snoke wants me to train with him this evening so I probably won't be at the drill. You want to come by my quarters afterwards?"

Hux nodded, not looking up from his desk.

"Okay. I'll see you later," Ren said as he walked out of the room.

-:-:-:-:-:-

After his training with Snoke, Ren headed back towards his quarters, striding down the hallway, his mind on Hux.

I should do something nice for him, he thought to himself as he walked along. Make him dinner or something. I mean, yes, I can't cook, but it's the thought that counts, right?

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings; which is why when he turned the corner he collided with a small figure, knocking it to the ground with the force of impact.

"I'm sorry," he began, going to help the person off the floor; before realizing it was HER. Captain Letha.

Force, he thought to himself. This day just gets better and better.

"Are you alright?", he asked, as he took hold of her hands and pulled her to her feet.

"I'm fine", she laughed as she dusted herself off. "Won't be the first time I was swept off my feet; hopefully not the last, either."

Ren resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, if you're okay then . . ."

"Oh, wait a sec," she said, stretching up on her tiptoes and flicking his shoulder with her slender fingers. "There! You had a piece of fuzz on your robe."

"Thank you," he said quietly, stepping around her and continuing down the hallway. As he reached his door she tried again to get his attention.

"Excuse me, my Lord?", she called after him, causing him to stifle a sigh before turning back around to face her.

"Yes, Captain?"

"I'm still attempting to get my bearings on this base ; it's so big compared to the last one I was on!", she said, walking up to where he stood. "I was wondering if maybe you'd have the time to show me around, sometime."

"I suggest you confer with Captain Phasma on the matter. She's more closely knowledgeable of the schematics than I am", he said stiffly, folding his arms across his chest.

She shrugged her shoulders lightly. "If you say so; personally, I think a tour from you would be much more . . . fun."

"I would hardly call myself 'fun', Captain."

"That's a pity.", she said, with a small smile on her face. "Well, if you ever change your mind . . ." 

And with that she walked away, glancing back over her shoulder at him before she turned the corner.

Holy Kriff, he thought as he watched her go. That woman is relentless. I don't care what Hux says; I think maybe she /will/ be having an "accident" sometime in the near future.

"Ren."

Ren looked to his right, startled. He hadn't even heard Hux walk up on him from the opposite direction. He was looking at Ren with an indefinable expression on his face.

"Why was Captain Letha here?", he asked in a soft voice, eyes searching Ren's face as Ren opened his door, letting the two of them into his quarters.

"She was trying to talk to me, but I told her I was busy and to go talk to Captain Phasma. That's it."

"So, she was here, at your door, to 'talk' to you. That's it. Talk."

"Hux. It is not what you are thinking, at all. I told you what happened!"

"Kylo . . .", Hux started, then stopped, unsure of how to go on. 

He spun around and advanced on the taller man, eyes blazing green fire. Ren backed away uneasily, unused to seeing such intensity coming from his boyfriend.

Pushing Ren against the wall, he grabbed his robes and yanked his face close, murmuring, "Maybe this is my fault. Maybe I haven't properly shown her, or YOU for that matter, who you belong to."

He held Ren's wrists firmly against the wall above his head as he attacked his neck and jaw with a barrage of aggressive kisses. 

Ren shuddered underneath the touch of his lips, unable to move or fend Hux off; even as his teeth bit down into his skin in several places, hard enough to bruise. Each bite sent rolling shocks through his entire body, causing him to moan, loudly, helplessly, knees shaking with the sudden overwhelming onslaught of pleasure and pain.

He hurled Ren to the floor and climbed on top of him, holding him there, melting his resistance with the heat of his body. 

They kissed and wrestled until they were high off of frustration, doped with desire; until their clothes had been ripped away from one other, moving their bodies together to express the unspeakable, until at last they collapsed, sweating, perfectly still, falling asleep together in sweet exhaustion.

-:-:-:-

"Maker, Hux," Kylo said the next morning, looking in the refresher mirror at the pattern of bite marks and bruises all along his neck. "You really--put your mark on me, didn't you?"

"I'm sorry," Hux replied, in a voice that was anything but. "Did I hurt you?"

"Yes."

"Are you angry with me?"

"Very."

"So what are you going to do about it?"

Ren smiled and grabbed Hux's hand, pulling him out of the room and back towards the bedroom. "Come on in and find out, General."

"Hey, wait," said Hux, pulling away. "Do you realize what today is?"

Ren frowned impatiently. "Thursday?"

"No, you idiot. Wait here a sec."

He walked into the living room and grabbed his coat off the back of the couch, digging in his left pocket. When he snagged what he was looking for he enclosed it in his wrist, smiling, as he headed back to Ren.

"Close your eyes."

"Close my eyes? What for?"

"Just do it! And bend over towards me, please."

"I like where this is going already", Ren said, smirking as he shut his eyes.

Hux carefully unraveled the little delicate silver chain and reached around Kylo's neck, clasping it into place. "Ok, you can open now."

Ren opened his eyes and delicately touched the little gem hanging just below his throat. It was a small kyber crystal, sparking and powerful, brandished with his and Hux's initials drawn in a tiny heart with what appeared to be gold ink.

"This is--beautiful, Hux. Where in the world did you FIND something like this?"

"One of my Captains brought it back from the last mission I sent them on. I took it to a jeweler and had them draw our initials on it in the liquid gold."

"You know I'm not the best with expressing myself, Kylo. But I want you to know something: I love you. No matter what you do or where you go, I'll always be in love with you. And I never understood the difference before, between loving someone, and being in love. I'm in love with everything about you."

"I don't know what to say, Hux. That's probably the most beautiful thing anyone has ever said to me, in my entire life. To say 'I love you too' feels weak; but I do. I'm yours, too."

"But, seriously, I'm confused right now. What have I done to deserve such a beautiful gift?", he asked, touching his necklace.

"You don't remember? Shocking," said Hux teasingly. "It just so happens, Ren, that today marks one calendar year since you so eloquently asked me to, quote, 'give you a shot'."

"Seriously?" Ren asked, his face softening. "It's been a whole year? That's -- incredible."

"And hey, look, I was right; it didn't take an entire year for us to . . . you know . . . "

Ren rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay, by one day. One. Not sure if that counts."

"Feels like we have a lot of lost time to make up, doesn't it?"

"So let's get started," Ren said, moving towards him. "You want me to call Captain Letha so she can watch?"

"Shut up," said Hux, kissing him as Ren scooped him up into his strong arms, practically flying to his bedroom.


	8. Chapter 8

"So I heard your mother and father are coming to visit again really soon; and that this time they're bringing your Uncle Chewie AND your Uncle Luke?"

"They are. I heard YOUR father is also coming for a visit. What a coincidence, huh?"

"Huge coincidence."

"So what time do you have to be at work?"

"Actually, I don't have to work today. What about you? Snoke having you go on a mission later?"

"Surprisingly, no. Looks like I'm free of responsibilities, too. LOT of coincidences so far today. Wonder if there'll be any more?"

Hux smiled at him, kissing his cheek. "Maybe. Guess we'll find out before the day is over, huh?"

"I guess we will. Hey can you do me a favor and help me with this?"

"Is that--a tie? You're wearing a tie right now? What for?"

"Matches the suit", Ren said with a smirk.

"A suit, too? You mean you're actually putting on something besides your robes or training fatigues? What's the occasion?", Hux asked, adjusting Ren's tie for him.

"Oh, I don't know . . . don't you ever just feel like dressing up sometimes?"

"Sometimes. Hey can you give me a hand with buttoning these sleeves? I can't reach the ones on my right arm so well."

"Of course," said Ren, carefully beginning to fasten the long row of gold buttons. "You know, come to think of it, you're pretty dressed up, too. Is this new?"

"It's not new but I've only worn it one other time before."

"It's very--elegant."

"Thanks. I only wear it on really formal occasions."

"Are you expecting to attend a formal occasion today, by chance?"

"Well--you never know what will come up, do you? Always good to be prepared."

"I agree."

Hux walked over to his window and looked out. On the grounds below them a number of people were engaged in a bustle of activity, arranging chairs on either side of a long soft gold carpet, placing displays of flowers and lights around the chairs, pushing a large piano into the corner at the head of the carpet, etc.

"Looks like something is getting ready to happen outside. A party or something like that. That's odd-- I don't remember being informed of anything particularly special happening today. Do YOU have have any idea what's going on?"

Ren joined him at the window and looked down as well.

"I don't know, Hux. Nobody ever says anything to ME. But, you know, when I was younger I went with my parents once to this place, and it was kind of decorated just like it looks below. I had never been to anything like that before, and not since."

"What was it?"

"Some sappy display of hugging and kissing and what-not that they called a 'wedding'."

"Oh, I've heard of those! It's that thing where two people stand up in front of a bunch of their friends and family, and tell them that they're in love, and then slobber all over each other in front of everyone, right?"

"Something like that, yeah. Weird, though; judging by all the lights they're putting up I'd say that whoever is getting married plans to do so when it's getting dark, like, at sunset, maybe."

"Who in the world would get married at sunset?"

"Probably someone who both hates sunshine, and has some ridiculous notion that sunsets are romantic." Ren rolled his eyes. "Pretty stupid, huh?"

"VERY stupid. But you know, to each his own, I guess. Now I'm really curious to see who it is that's getting married. Might drop in down there to watch."

"Me, too. Even if it's boring I'm sure they'll be free food and drinks afterwards, right?"

"Most likely, yes."

"You know what would be hilarious? If, right when their ceremony began, it started to rain. Like a complete downpour."

"That would be something to see.," said Hux, snorting a laugh. "But, I'm sure whoever planned this affair took every possible precaution, and looked practically years ahead into the weather forecast to ensure a nice day."

Ren raised an eyebrow. "Then it sounds like whoever planned that is a real stickler for detail, for being organized and what not. Probably a real pain in the ass, actually. Feel bad for whatever poor sap agreed to marry them."

"Makes you wonder what the other person is like, though, doesn't it?", asked Hux with a grin.

"Probably someone very laid-back, carefree. And probably really really attractive, too. Most laid back individuals are pretty good looking, in my experience."

"Hm. Never noticed that before," Hux said with a sly grin. The two people in this scenario sound very different from each other, don't they? Makes you wonder how they got together in the first place."

"Well," said Ren, shrugging his shoulders, "If you read romance novels, they'll tell you that most situations such as that one start with something simple. Something like -- a kiss."

"So it starts with a kiss and ends with a kiss, huh? Or at least, it does if you consider a kiss at the altar an 'ending'."

"I imagine that the really, /really/ sappy romantic types consider it a beginning, actually."

"A beginning?" asked Hux, tilting his head. "A beginning to what, exactly?"

"Oh, I don't know--a beginning to sharing a life with someone else, sharing laughs and tears and punches and kisses and secrets and food and a bed and just--everything."

"That sounds very lovely, Ren. If I didn't know you better I'd guess that you read quite a few romance novels yourself."

Ren smiled and hugged him tightly. 

"I'm not much of a reader, actually. But I do have a very vivid imagination."

 

-:-:-:-:-:-

Ren and Hux sat together at one of the ornate silver tables, decorated with a gorgeous flower arrangement in the center surrounded by tiny tea candles.

"I was right about the free food," says Ren, busily stuffing little delicacies into his face. "Do you think they mind that we're crashing the reception like this?"

"Eh, I'm sure no one even notices us. Most of the attention goes towards the people getting married at these things; not the guests.

"Lord Ren, General", came a voice from behind them. Captain Phasma emerged, looking exquisite in a short form fitting evening gown, a delicate silver that complimented her hair.

"Phasma!" said Ren, smiling widely at her. "Would you like to sit down and join us?"

"No, no, that's alright. I just wanted to come over and wish you two my deepest congratulations. The ceremony was just beautiful. I'm--really happy for you both," she said, tearing up a bit.

"Thank you," Ren and Hux said in unison, as Hux rose from his seat to fold Phasma into a warm hug. "You've been a good friend to the both of us, Captain." He hesitated, then leaned in and gave her a warm kiss on the cheek.

Phasma blushed and pulled away, wiping tears from her eye. "Okay I'm going to go now; weddings always make me overly emotional. Have a good night, and congrats again."

Both men watched her leave before turning to each other and smiling.

"So--you're sure you're ready for this? Being my boyfriend was one thing, but husband? Whole other world."

"Geez, Ren," Hux laughed, "Its a little late to be asking me this /now/, isn't it?"

"You still love me, right? I mean this wasn't all some big ploy to get at my inheritance, was it?"

"Do I still love you? We've been married for like, 5 minutes! And yes, Ren, it was. I've been sleeping with you for 3 and a half years in order to get my hands on your dad's fall-apart ship and pet Wookiee."

"Not pet: uncle. Uncle Chewie. You'd better be respectful; he's your uncle now, too."

"I guess that also means that your parents are my in laws now, huh? That's good; I really like your mother. Your dads a little strange sometimes but I think he likes me, too. He offered to teach me to play cards."

"You don't know how to play cards? Not even Sabacc?"

"Nope; never learned."

"Well if you want to learn how to play /honestly/, I'd stay away from Han if I were you. He's quite the dirty cheater when it comes to cards. Well, when it comes to anything, actually."

Hux laughed, taking a glance back at Ren's parents table, where Han and Chewie were stuffing themselves with food at an alarming rate and Leia was talking with her brother, her eyes still bright with emotion and happiness at her son's nuptials.

Soft music played in the background, the breeze gently swaying the twinkle lights glowing in the trees.

"Do you--want to dance?"

"I don't know, Hux; I'm not very graceful and I've got two left feet."

"That's ok; I can dance. All you have to do is let me lead you. Deal?"

"Okay--deal", he replied as he let Hux pull him out to the dance area. With Hux in the lead it was rather easy, and enjoyable, as he showed Ren how to move his feet and where to put his hands. Eventually he caught on and was able to move somewhat on beat to the tune, snickering to himself at how much fun he was having.

They danced through three more songs before sitting back down, tired, at their table.

"That was more labor intensive than I anticipated ," said Hux, wiping a tiny bit of sweat from his forehead.

"If you think THAT was labor intensive, my dear sweet husband --just wait 'til later.", Ren purred in a low voice, an evil smirk on his face.

"See, now I'm a little worried that I let you plan the honeymoon. You're still not going to tell me where we're going?"

"Nope. I'll give you a hint though; its secluded, beautiful, and inhabited solely by adorable furry creatures, of whom I am a part of their 'tribe'; and so are you, now, that we're married."

"Furry creatures? Tribe?! I've got a bad feeling about this."

"You'll love it; I promise."

Hux smiled, taking Ren's hand and rubbing his fingers over the new solid black-gold band on his ring finger. "Will I love it as much as I love you?"

Ren blushed and looked down at their joined hands, squeezing them together tightly. "I hope not. Do you think I'LL ever find something that I love as much as you?"

"I /really/ hope not," said Hux, leaning in to kiss his husband under the star-soaked sky.


End file.
